Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney weighed in Wednesday on college football’s sign-stealing and alleged in-person scouting conducted by Michigan staff.
Michigan is under investigation by the NCAA after a staffer named Connor Stalion allegedly purchased tickets to more than 30 college football games since at least 2021, allegedly to scout and record Big Ten opponents and potential College Football Playoff opponents.
Observing and decoding an opponent’s signals during games is not against the rules. In-person scouting at their other games and recording of opposing sidelines, however, is prohibited. Swinney spoke on the subject during his press briefing on Wednesday.
“It’s always part of the game that you’re playing in,” Swinney said of in-game sign stealing. “You’re always looking from the sidelines and trying to figure out what personnel are in the game. And certainly, if you discover something in the game, it’s always been, I think, part of the game. . . .
“You have signs, you have different signal callers, you do a lot of things to try not to make it easy for the opponent to pick up your blitz signal, your run signal or your protection, Whatever it is, it t’s been that way forever and ever in college football, or at any level of football.
“But as far as all the other things (with Michigan), it’s new. Again, I don’t know anything specific, but you definitely can’t have in-person scouting and videos and all that stuff things.”
Swinney did not comment on reports that Stalion purchased tickets to a Clemson home game last season. According to Buckeye Huddle, Stalion had a ticket to a Tigers game when there was a chance Clemson would make the 2022 College Football Playoff. It is unclear whether he or any other staff member attended the game.
Christine Long covers the Clemson Tigers for the Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. You can follow her on Twitter @christinalong00 or email him at [email protected].
